Organic Chemistry for the YouTube Generation

No matter how long they pore over their lab manuals, students feel anxious when they step into a science laboratory. Now a series of dynamic videos created by undergraduate students at the University of California, San Diego is helping them relax and focus on what really matters—the science behind the experiment.
“Students can’t concentrate on concepts when they are stressed about the technical details of performing an experiment,” said Haim Weizman, a lecturer in U.C. San Diego’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, who spearheaded the video project. “By helping them prepare for the lab, the videos allow students to concentrate on the molecules and see the beauty of what is happening.”

Over the last few months, the videos, which can be viewed here have been downloaded more than 15,000 times from YouTube and SciVee, a website where scientists can trade research techniques. SciVee was developed by Phillip Bourne, a professor of pharmacology at UCSD.

Each video is approximately five to seven minutes long and features a student demonstrating a critical procedure in organic chemistry, such as the purification of a substance by distillation or recrystallization. Students have difficulty visualizing how to perform such procedures from the instructions in the laboratory manual alone.

Read More... Thanks: physorg.com